Baseball's Kinley Taken By Marlins In First-Year Player Draft

Tyler Kinley excelled for the Bucs on the mound and at the plate this season. Photo by Joel Auerbach.

MIAMI SHORES, Fla.—The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft is an exciting time for college baseball programs, from both sides of aisle.

Deserving players get a chance to pursue their dream of playing professional baseball, but rosters also take hits from players could return, but now may need to be replaced.

Barry University finds itself in both situations this summer after two members of the team were tabbed in the draft.

Right-handed pitcher Tyler Kinley was taken in the 16th round (472 overall) by the Miami Marlins after a sensational senior year that saw his role evolve over the course of the season. After working exclusively out of the pen prior to this year and starting there this year, Kinley eventually moved into the rotation this season starting seven games. He went 4-2 with a save in 46.1 innings with a 5.24 ERA and 34 strikeouts. In addition, he showed his versatility by serving as the Bucs DH in 10 games, hitting .281 with a double, a homer and five RBI in 32 at-bats.

“It’s a humbling experience and definitely a dream that I’ve had ever since I stepped on this earth,” Kinley said. “It’s great to be picked by the hometown team and a situation where I could possibly move through the system quickly, it’s very exciting. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity that I had to play at Barry University under the guidance of our elite coaching staff.”

Kinley, the 13th player taken in the draft from Barry since Marc Pavao took over as head coach for the 2006 season, is expected to be assigned to either the Batazia Muddogs in the New York-Penn League or the Jupiter Marlins in the Gulf Coast League.

On the other side for the Bucs, one of their early signees, catcher Elier Rodriguez, a switch-hitting catcher from LaSalle High School in Miami, Fla., was taken in the 14th round (425 overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals. Rodriguez hit .485 with five homers and 30 RBIs this past high-school season. Rodriguez was one of seven players signed by the Bucs in the fall.